Show Review: Metalliance Tour featuring Helmet, Saint Vitus, Crowbar, Kylesa, Red Fang, Howl, and Atlas Moth at The Mezzanine, 4/3/2011

Page Hamilton, frontman of Helmet, the headliners of the Metalliance Tour
Page Hamilton, frontman of Helmet, the headliners of the Metalliance Tour

October 22nd, 2006. That was the final day for a San Francisco club known as The Pound, a smallish, low building stranded out in the middle of the dreary reaches of Pier 96 near Heron’s Head Park. For true metalheads of the Bay Area, it was a dark day in history, for no venue besides the Pound was better known for providing a consistent schedule of hardcore punk, furious grindcore, and every genre of metal under the sun (which, considering metal, is quite a lot). While larger clubs like Slim’s and the Regency Ballroom have stepped up to the plate to try and appease the hundreds of roaring voices that bellow out for the return of a good metal venue, they have been hard pressed to draw the same underground caliber that the Pound was able to pull in night after night. If the Mezzanine continues to host shows like Sunday night’s Metalliance Tour, however, then we may once again have a contender that fares well in the ring.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 3/31/11 – 4/6/11

Yeah, so normally I put a funny pic that makes fun of the name of some band playing this week. But, instead, we are giving away a pair of tickets to see the Metalliance Tour at Mezzanine on Sunday, April 3rd. It will be an amazing night of  non-stop metal madness, capped off by the great HELMET! Simply email promo@spinningplatters.com by Friday at 3 PM, and one lucky winner will be picked at random. Just give me your name, email, and phone number and in the subject, put METALLIANCE CONTEST. Winner will be informed by email. And if you don’t win, tickets are for sale here!

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In Theaters Today: “Jack Goes Boating” / “Howl” / “You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger” / “Waiting For ‘Superman'” / “Let Me In”

Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloë Grace Moretz star in Overture Film's LET ME IN.

Look after the jump for reviews of five new films playing in the Bay Area this weekend.

Continue reading “In Theaters Today: “Jack Goes Boating” / “Howl” / “You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger” / “Waiting For ‘Superman’” / “Let Me In””

Spinning Platters Interview: Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman on “Howl”

Script supervisor Tony Pettine discusses a scene with directors Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein in the courtroom set of HOWL. Photo courtesy of Telling Pictures.

The Times of Harvey Milk. Common Threads: Stories From The Quilt. The Celluloid Closet. Paragraph 175. Over the course of 25 years, two Best Documentary Oscars, and a smattering of Emmys and Peabodys, San Francisco-based filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman have forever changed the face of documentary film-making and revolutionized the portrayal of gay and lesbian subjects in American culture. Now, they’ve made Howl (opening in Bay Area on September 24), their first scripted film, in which James Franco brilliantly embodies Allen Ginsberg. They recently sat down with Spinning Platters to discuss their latest effort.

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